Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance (ISR)

Defining the battlefield through persistent surveillance

For deployed forces and law enforcement professionals in the field, the ability to identify an unknown object is critical for safety and mission execution. The same is true for U.S. Navy and Coast Guard vessels patrolling thousands of miles of national and international waterways and coastal areas. If a Navy ship finds an unidentified vessel at sea, they need real-time, actionable intelligence on the vessel to rapidly make informed decisions.

The process of gathering actionable intelligence on an unidentified vessel starts with U.S. Navy analysts at sea and at command sites ashore positively identifying the vessel, confirming its location and analyzing the images they have taken or received from manned and unmanned aerial systems (UAS). For U.S. Navy analysts, this multi-source intelligence is reviewed and processed using the Navy’s Distributed Common Ground System – Navy (DCGS-N) system, which includes BAE Systems’ SOCET GXP geospatial-intelligence application.

Once the shipboard analyst completes their review, the findings are sent directly to a full-motion video (FMV) analyst stateside for additional exploitation. The FMV analyst interprets the sensor data by watching the FMV frame-by-frame to identify threats, build patterns of life and fuse the video with other sources of intelligence, such as imagery and signals intelligence. If the unidentified vessel is determined to be a threat, U.S. Navy officers and FMV analysts using DCGS-N can develop a targeting solution to engage the enemy vessel.

The flexibility to collect, process and disseminate intelligence data to analysts stateside is critical to a mission’s success. Warfighters on the ground and at sea must have real-time situational awareness to make informed tactical decisions. FMV analysts enable this capability by providing around-the-clock support to U.S. troops engaged in combat operations.

Additional ISR capabilities include:

ISR Data & Analysis

Analytical Support to Engineering — Provides expertise and analysis to engineering groups that build sensors, software and electronic systems. BAE Systems is now a leading provider of unified product delivery that spans not only the system, but also the analytical services needed to operate that system in the field.

On-Site Academics & Training — Develops resource material for on-site training that is critical in preparing new analysts for the variety of mission areas of responsibility they support. On-site training for FMV analysts includes the socio-cultural, human terrain and geopolitical aspects of foreign countries, including Southwest Asia, the Arabian Peninsula and other new mission areas.